A redistribution of electoral divisions in the Australian Capital Territory was required, as the number of members of the House of Representatives that is to be chosen for the ACT at the next general election has increased from two to three.

There were about 230 million Americans eligible to vote on election day in 2016. 170 million either didn’t vote or didn’t vote for Trump. This means that nearly 75 percent of American voters who could cast a vote for president didn’t vote for the man who was elected.

Midterm elections are an important indicator of the national political climate that curb or enhance the power of the president’s party in Congress. If Republicans maintain majorities in the House and Senate, they will continue to pursue core policy priorities.

The week’s two big political campaigning scandals — Cambridge Analytica’s data-harvesting and Labor’s funding scam in Victoria — highlight the temptations facing parties desperate to win government. For Labor, an Ombudsman’s report on the affair places valuable information in the hands of the Victorian Opposition.

Trust in our politicians is declining, and risks diminishing further with allegations of misuse of public funds. This investigation argues that the reputation of the Victorian Parliament would be greatly enhanced if an independent agency was clearly empowered to deal with such matters.